AN: Hey guys. Here’s the last chapter of this story. Boy, this feels weird.

I’d like to start with an apology. I warned you that this chapter would take some time to post but I never thought it would take a month. I have been busy with other things and I’ve had trouble with writing this one.

Secondly, I’d like to tell that I’m planning my next story. I’ve come up with a plot and a name to the story and I’m going to start working on the characters and so on. I have no idea when I’ll post it but I’ll present myself so you’ll know it’s me ;)

Lastly, I just wanted to thank all of you who have read this story and reviewed it. It has made a great deal to me, and I’m not sure if I would have written the entire story without your response. Wow, this sounds like a cheesy speech of thanks, but I truly am thankful! So THANK YOU GUYS!

And here it is: the last chapter of Glittering facades and what lies beneath them.

***

The rest of the school year went surprisingly fast. I was happy I didn’t have O.W.Ls or N.E.W.Ts to worry about. Sure, we had the usual exams but they were nothing compared to the ones you did in fifth and seventh year. I think I did well on most of my exams too, and hopefully I’d receive some good grades in the summer.

We played another quidditch match against Ravenclaw, which we won by 210 against 50. It was a very even game but I caught the snitch in just the right moment so we managed to beat them. Still we didn’t win the quidditch cup since we had lost the game against Slytherin; the one where I got knocked by a bludger. I felt guilty because of that game. It was sort of my fault that we didn’t win. If I hadn’t gotten hit, then we might have won. I could have paid more attention to prevent it from happening, but I hadn’t. I tried not to think too much about it, though. It had happened and there was nothing I could do about it.

James had really hoped to win the cup this year. Quidditch was so important to him and this year he had wanted to win extra much since he was captain. It would have been easy for him to blame it on me, but he didn’t. Instead he had gathered the team for a talk where he told us that we should learn from our mistakes this year and get ready for the next year. It was our last year and we just had to win.

We also had had a “finishing party”. The team went to the kitchens where we had a dinner and talked about what had happened during the year. We talked about funny things that had happened during practises and cool moves or feints we had managed to do. Joey and Lucas were graduating this year, so next year we would have to find a new beater and keeper.

I would miss them terribly. They were like my big brothers, always looking out for me. They were also the funniest guys I knew, always joking and making me laugh. They had supported me during my rough period with Sirius, and I was very thankful for that. I had played quidditch with them for three years so it would feel very weird to play without them. Our family was about to split.

But we promised each other to keep contact. The whole team would meet in the summer and do something nice and I made the twins promise to at least write once a month when school started, which I must say had been everything but easy. I actually had to threaten them.

“Write me once a week?”

They looked at me wide-eyed, shaking their heads.

“Once a month?”

“Sophia, you know we’re no good with parchments and quills. Talking is so much better!”

“And how are we going to talk when you’re not here? You WILL write me once a month, or I’ll send Moaning Myrtle after you.”

They gasped. “You wouldn’t!”

I nodded and smirked. “I would.”

It had been hilarious. You see, the twins were deathly scared of Moaning Myrtle. They refused to tell what had made them so scared of her, but something had happened sometime in their second year. They had made her upset, which we all managed to do all the time, but they must have gone even further. You see, Moaning Myrtle hated them. I accidentally mentioned their names when I was in her bathroom once, and she went crazy.

She started screaming and chased me out of there. I had told the twins about this and they just looked terrified, refusing to say anything. They didn’t even dare to walk past the door to her bathroom, so they always took detours instead of walking through that corridor.

Like I said, it was hilarious. And it helped me to make them promise to keep contact, so I wouldn’t completely lose my brothers.

The team had gone to the common room after the dinner, where there was a big party. The party had been really fun. This time I didn’t drink too much either, so there were no embarrassing things to be teased about. My friends still teased me about the party in the beginning of the year when I drank too much, called James Potty and accidentally exposed my butt to Peter. Yeah, that one. I just wanted to forget it but no, they wouldn’t let me.

Anyway, the party had been like a finishing party for the whole house. The year was coming to an end and we were going home.

I was looking forward to seeing my family again. I was especially longing to see my brother again. We always stayed up late the night school ended and told each other what had happened during the year. The tradition started when he still went to Hogwarts, and now we only had more to tell each other.

My family was going on vacation this summer too. We were going to Greece for two weeks, and I was really looking forward to it. It would be a challenge too, being away from Sirius for two weeks (or even more), but it was going to be interesting to see how it went.

I was also going to introduce Sirius to my family this summer. He had met them before but this time he was being introduced as my boyfriend. I knew that my family liked him so I didn’t have to worry about what they would think. They already knew that we were together. I had written it in a mail to them.

The only thing that could go wrong would be if Danny suddenly acted over-protective. He usually did that, but he knew Sirius so it shouldn’t be a problem. Besides, I was old enough to date so he shouldn’t have anything to say at all.

My plans didn’t end there though. All of my friends were going to James’ house for a week. He lived in a huge mansion. I actually got lost there once. They also had this big swimming pool which was perfect for the summer. I knew I was going to have a great time. Spending a week with my best friends guaranteed fun.

I was feeling very positive. It seemed like it was going to be a sunny summer too, so there wasn’t really anything that could go wrong. I would spend time with my family, friends and boyfriend; the persons I loved the most.

I would miss Hogwarts though. Hogwarts was my second home, and I knew that many other students felt the same way. But I would return in September, so it didn’t feel that bad.

I was thinking about how my summer would be as I was putting the last things in my trunk. We were going home, and I only had half an hour before I had to leave. The dormitory was empty, except for me. I enjoyed the silence and took time to say goodbye to my dorm.

After finishing my packing, I went downstairs to the common room. I didn’t have to bring my trunk; it would be taken care of and I would find it at the train station later. Lily and Alisha were sitting on one of the couches. The guys were nowhere to be seen. It wouldn’t surprise me if they were pranking someone. They always tried to do the last prank as late as possible, ‘just because’. I really didn’t understand those guys sometimes, and I didn’t try either. It would drive anyone mad.

I sat down and talked to my friends for a while. After about fifteen minutes the guys came bustling into the common room, all of them panting heavily. I immediately caught Sirius’ eyes and raised an eyebrow at him, but he just shrugged and smirked, which usually meant that I didn’t want to know.

My personal guess was that they had pranked someone who had gotten mad and chased them, hence the panting. I didn’t even bother to ask them if I was right though, because I honestly didn’t care.

We decided that it was best to start heading downstairs to the great hall so that we wouldn’t have to rush. The other girls from our dorm joined us, and we told each other about our plans for the summer on the way down.

When we arrived the carriages were already waiting for us. The trip to Hogsmeade seemed to go faster than usual, and I soon found myself sitting in a compartment with all my friends.

We were rather cramped to be frank. The compartments weren’t made for seven people, but somehow we managed to fit. Sirius sat closest to the window and I sat beside him. Peter sat next to me, and the others sat opposite of us. James had managed to squeeze himself next to Lily and he looked close to ecstatic.

We spent the train ride talking about funny things that had happened during the year; from September to the present time. I once again had to endure being teased about the party. I swear, they would never let me forget that.

“…and then she told me my eyes kinda had the same color as poop and nearly poked me in the eye!” James said and roared with laughter.

The others were laughing too, even though they had heard the story at least three times.

“… and I had to carry her to our dorm where she passed out on my bed!” James shouted, shaking with laughter.

I stuck my tongue out at him. It wasn’t that funny.

“Remember the day after Moony?” James said and smirked. “Padfoot thought Soph and I had had sex! And he was furious!”

This caused another attack of laughter, but this time Sirius remained silent.

“Hey! It totally looked like you’d slept with her!” He said and crossed his arms.

“Yeah yeah, whatever” James said and waved his hand. “We haven’t even reached the funniest part yet!”

I stiffened. Not that part.

“Sophia was getting the hangover potion from Moony when she forgot she was only in her underwear and exposed her arse to all of us! And Wormy stared as if he had never seen a butt before… and… and” James gasped, laughing too hard to be able to speak properly.

“And then Sirius went crazy again, yeah yeah” I said sourly. “The end.”

Peter had stiffened next to me and I saw his face going tomato red out of the corner of my eye. Embarrassing much?

I had heard this story so many times and I just couldn’t understand what was so damn funny. I mean, honestly, it wasn’t that funny. It really wasn’t! In fact, it wasn’t funny at all. But I might have laughed if it had happened to Alisha or Lily. So perhaps it was a bit funny. But just a bit.

“Aww, is it a sensitive subject for little Soph?” James teased, smirking at me.

“Sod off James” I muttered and glared at him.

So maybe I wasn’t really angry, but acting like a drama queen was quite fun. I quickly changed the subject though, so I wouldn’t have to hear anything else about that bloody party.

We continued talking about the dares, the parties, all the nights we’d done funny things together and all of the times McGonagall had almost expelled James and Sirius. We avoided talking about Zach and everything that had happened with him though. It was still a sore subject and no one wanted to talk about it on our last day before the holidays.

It was weird really, how so much could happen in just one year. The whole thing with Zach had cast a shadow over my year, but I had lots of good things to compensate with. I would never forget what he had done to me, but I had moved on and hopefully I wouldn’t think much of it in the future. I had learned a lot of things from it.

I had for example learned that I could trust my friends, no matter what. I should have gone to them when things were bad, but I didn’t and that was a mistake of mine. But now I knew that I could turn to them. They would always be there for me.

Honesty was the key. If I had been honest to everyone perhaps things hadn’t turned out the way they did. But I didn’t dwell on it. It was in the past and I only thought about it to prevent myself from making the same mistakes again.

While my friends were chatting and laughing I sat silent, observing them and thinking about the year that had passed. I had realised that there was two sides to every coin, and that you never knew what to expect from someone. But the people you know best tend to surprise you less than your superficial acquaintances. However, sometimes surprises can be good.

Finding out that Sirius fancied me sure was a surprise, and look where that led me. There wasn’t really much to say about it. I was happier than ever, and that was enough.

This year had really changed me, and I felt that it was a change for the better. I had become more mature and more realistic. I knew that the world could be cruel, and therefore I was more prepared for what could happen. I knew that I could handle difficult situations, and that made me more confident in myself.

Of course, all of these changes weren’t just because of the bad stuff that had happened, but they meant a great deal in the matter.

Suddenly Sirius put his arm around me and pulled me close to him. He must have noticed that I had zoned out, and probably thought I was tired. I smiled and tried not to think too much about how perfect he was. I did that enough already.

I was still lovesick, but I wasn’t as obsessed with him as I was before. Our relationship had grown a bit, even though we still were in the early progress of it. We were seriously in love though, I had a feeling that it would only become better and better.

As I leant close to Sirius, I thought about how different my sixth year had been. I had had no idea how it would be, and I could never have guessed how it would turn out. Both good and bad stuff happened to me during the year, and I had to go through a lot. Still, it was with no doubt one of the best years of my life. And that was because of him.

***

And that was it. I can’t believe it myself.

Please review and tell me your opinions of this story. I personally think that it could have been much better, but it was my first story ever and I’m not from England or any other country where English is spoken so I’m satisfied anyway. However, I’ve got a feeling that my next story will be much better.

And I know it was cliché and cheesy to end with the same words as the summary, but I thought it suited. Oh, and the chapter title is a song made by David Gray. It's great!

I have three more things to say;
- Thank you
- Review
- And I’ll see you in the future!